It’s all very hush-hush, but the British government has its agents prowling the city on an all-important G20 mission. They are searching for a suitable pub where their delegates can watch England play in the World Cup.

Perhaps the most delicate diplomatic issue for those inside the Summit Management Office (SMO) in Toronto is trying to figure out how to tune in leaders and their aides to the World Cup games live from South Africa.

The task is proving to be vexing.

“The SMO has assured us the delegates and all the media will be able to watch the games as they happen,” said Catrin Stibbe, press secretary for the German consulate.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel, for one, is a big fan of the beautiful game.

“She is known to have an interest in the matches . . . . It is not only a concern with us and our delegations but other delegations have raised this point and they’d like to be able to see it,” said Stibbe.

As the G20 leaders descend on Toronto later this month, many teams — the Australians, Americans, British and the Germans — could be advancing closer to the finals. Key matches will be played as the summit begins on June 26.

Fourteen of 24 nations invited to the G20 are participating in the most popular sporting event on earth. Because of time-zone differences, the games will be broadcast in the morning in Toronto.

“Hopefully, in the delegation room we’ll have live satellite TV . . . and we can inform the president once in a while if South Africa is playing,” said Anesh Maistry, deputy head of mission for the South African High Commission.

Summit organizers are “very conscious of the importance” of the World Cup, according to Béatrice Fénelon, a spokesperson for the office. “There will be regular updates of the results available during the summits so that the leaders, delegates and media will be able to follow the games on a daily basis.”

South African President Jacob Zuma will be absent during one of the largest parties ever to be held in his country. Instead, he’ll be stuck inside the Metro Toronto Convention Centre with Prime Minister Stephen Harper and other global leaders as the games are being watched by over 1 billion people around the .

For the 60-person South African delegation, it’s hard not to be at home during this time, said Maistry.

“It is a very difficult time for us because South Africa is in party mode,” he said. “Every person back home, friends, family, even my mom, is talking about the World Cup. It is one big party.”

Even Zuma’s flight time to Toronto hinges on his World Cup commitments. “He’ll arrive but he’ll go back straight to South Africa because he has to be there for the quarter-finals and the semi-finals,” Maistry said.

The French, who lost in the 2006 final to Italy, will be working instead of worrying about the games, according to Nathan Skolski, press attaché with the Ambassade de France au Canada.

“The French delegation in Toronto will be quite busy working on the G20 summit and there will be nothing planned for the World Cup,” he said in an email.

The Brits, who take their football seriously, are looking at booking room at Toronto pubs, especially for the English media, but they “haven’t locked that down yet,” said Courtney Battistone, head of media and public affairs at the U.K. High Commission in Ottawa. “We anticipate England will advance.”

And if Torontonians leave the city as the G20 hoards descend, that could mean more room at the local bar. “Hopefully, with all Torontonians fleeing we’ll have lots of rooms at the pubs,” said Battistone. “Where there is a will there is a way.”

If the German team advances, they could play the U.S. or England, two other G20 attendees. “If Germany qualifies we’ll play either the Saturday or Sunday and two strong opponents could be England or the U.S.A.,” said Stibbe. “Every German will want to see that game that is for sure.”

It is unclear whether the leaders will be carrying cellphones, BlackBerrys or iPhones during the meetings so they can get the scores from their aides.

“It is going to be an interesting time. I don’t know what they are going to do for the leaders,” said Maistry.

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